


In A Heartbeat

by blipblopblork



Category: In a Heartbeat (Short Film), Silicon Valley (TV)
Genre: In A Heartbeat AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-15 21:30:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13039809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blipblopblork/pseuds/blipblopblork
Summary: "They're in Gavin Belson's office. Richard Hendricks has just done the unthinkable, turned down an offer of ten million dollars, when Jared feels it.Ka-thunkJared's hands fly up to cover his chest, before they quickly settle, awkwardly, as he tries to figure out how look casual and maintain an air of professionalism while still keeping one arm clasped firmly over his heart."An In A Hearbeat AU.





	In A Heartbeat

**Author's Note:**

> This story was inspired by the animated short [In A Hearbeat](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2REkk9SCRn0). If you haven't already seen it, go take a moment right now and watch it, and then come back. I promise you won't regret it.

They're in Gavin Belson's office. Richard Hendricks has just done the unthinkable, turned down an offer of ten million dollars, when Jared feels it.

_Ka-thunk_

Jared's hands fly up to cover his chest, before they quickly settle, awkwardly, as he tries to figure out how look casual and maintain an air of professionalism while still keeping one arm clasped firmly over his heart.

Fortunately, nobody's really paying much attention to Jared right now, because everyone in the room has bigger things to worry about. Like the fact that Richard just turned down ten million dollars. The fact that Richard just said "no" to Gavin Belson, when nobody (nobody!) ever says no to Gavin Belson. And the fact that the contents of Richard's stomach are threatening to rise up and decorate the rug in Gavin Belson's office.

So between a fuming Gavin, a queasy Richard, and well, Bighead, it's not that surprising that none of them notice the tiny smiling pink heart that Jared is doing a truly awful job of keeping concealed inside his shirt.

 _Ka-thunk_ it goes again, before unceremoniously leaping from beneath his collar and launching itself across the room, where it lands, still undetected, in the folds of Richard's hoodie.

Jared edges his way towards Richard slowly, trying not to spook him or his uncooperative heart, but it's at that very moment that Richard bids his hasty, awkward apologies and flees the room as fast as he can, unknowingly taking Jared's heart with him - a heart that looks unbearably pleased, nestled in the soft fabric behind Richard's head.

And Jared knows right then, he doesn't have a choice. He's going to have to follow it.

\--------

And follow it he does, though he makes a brief detour to pick up some champagne before heading over to the hacker hostel. There's no sense in rushing over there, he knows. Jared's had some practice with this; with his heart latching on to random strangers at inopportune moments - and most of the time it hasn't ended well. In all likelihood, his heart will find its way back to him in it's own time after Richard either does something disappointing, or just outright rejects him. Jared recalls his first day at Hooli with a shudder, when his heart had naively followed Gavin Belson into a board meeting, only to flee the room, terrified, just five minutes later. Jared's heart had been reluctant to leave his side for months after that, which suited Jared just fine.

But as Jared waits outside on the hostel porch, he can't help but hope that maybe, just maybe, this time things might go differently. Though if he could recover his heart and make it home without anyone noticing anything amiss, he'd chalk that up as a win.

The door opens to reveal a large man reeking of marijuana, with Richard Hendricks cowed behind him. Jared's heart peeks up cheekily over Richard's shoulder, and judging by his lack of reaction, Richard hasn't noticed it tailing him all afternoon. Jared breathes a sigh of relief, but its short lived, because the large man - Erlich, apparently - is taking his champagne and ushering him out of the house before he can even get in a word edgewise to Richard, forget about snatching his heart back undetected.

The door slams loudly behind Jared, and he sighs. It seems that there is nothing else for him to do besides return home, alone, and try his best to ignore the feeling of his heart beating literally outside his chest.

\-------

Jared is drowning his sorrows in a cup of Earl Grey tea when the phone rings. He sees an unfamiliar number with a Tulsa, OK area code on his screen. This can only mean one thing - Richard has finally noticed Jared's lovesick heart has been trailing after him all day, and is doing the kind thing and calling to return it, albeit a tiny bit broken.

But miracle of miracles, it turns out that isn't why Richard is calling. He wants Jared's help! Perhaps Jared could still salvage this situation and recover his heart undetected. And even if it does all come crashing down, at least Jared will have been able to enjoy a nice evening of business planning with Richard first.

\-----

One evening turns into two turns into a full time job, and before Jared knows it he's subletting his condo and moving his things into the hacker hostel garage. He tells himself it's because he wants to be available 24/7 for Pied Piper, for the precious thing their team is building together. Deep down, he knows it's because he wants to be closer to Richard and his traitorous heart.

His heart continues to take every opportunity to tease him; perching on Richard's shoulders, riding around in his pockets, or the hood of his hoodie, or even once nestling itself on top of Richard's soft curls - never for a moment letting Jared forget how he feels. Yet months have passed, and Richard still hasn't said anything, and Jared honestly isn't sure whether Richard is incredibly oblivious or just trying to be polite.

Jared's made several attempts to snatch his heart back, under the guise of fixing Richard's collar or adjusting the strap of his messenger bag, but Richard (and Jared's heart) have always leapt quickly out of reach.

\-----

It's after one of these instances that Jared finds himself alone in the kitchen with Gilfoyle.

"You're both pathetic." Gilfoyle observes, dryly.

Jared sighs in agreement.

"You've noticed, then?"

Gilfoyle rolls his eyes. "I live in a house where there are literally anthropomorphic hearts flying around. Of course I've noticed. We can't all be as oblivious as Richard."

Jared nods, resigned. He'd known this day would come; frankly, he was shocked it had taken this long.

"So you're going to tell him, then?"

Gilfoyle chuckles. "Tell him? Why would I do that? This is one of the most entertaining things to happen around here in weeks. I want to see how this plays out."

Jared lets out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "Thank you! You're a good man, Bertram Gilfoyle."

"Never say something like that again." Gilfoyle glowers. "And leave me alone before I change my mind."

Jared nods vigorously and hastily makes his retreat. It isn't until he gets back to the garage that he truly parses what Gilfoyle had said.

_"Hearts", plural?_

\-----

Jared doesn't dare hope; a lifetime of disappointments has taught him that much. There are too many ways to interpret what Gilfoyle had said; it could have been a slip of the toungue, or, more likely, Gilfoyle had just been messing with him. After all, the only heart Jared has spotted flitting about the house lately was his own.

Jared's efforts to shake his crush and reclaim his heart on his own terms haven't proved particularly fruitful either; it feels incredibly counterproductive that in order to get his heart back, Jared constantly needs to find excuses to be close to Richard - but the alternative, the thought of leaving Pied Piper, of just leaving Richard and his heart behind, is too painful to bear.

Jared had been certain one night, when Richard had offered to let him sleep on an air mattress in his room, that he had finally found the perfect opportunity. He would simply feign sleep until he heard Richard snoring, and then stealthily retrieve his heart while Richard was asleep. Alas, the comfort and warmth of sleeping in Richard's room had Jared out like a light as soon as his head hit the pillow, and when he awoke in the morning, Richard was gone.

Feeling a bit defeated, Jared decides after that incident that the time-tested adage, "work will set you free," just might be applicable here, and so he throws himself headlong into preparations for Techcrunch Disrupt.

\-----

Jared's phone starts chiming rapid-fire during the post-Techcrunch celebrations, and he steps away from the festivities to check it. It's a Google alert - he'd set them up for Pied Piper and Richard Hendricks early on, even before joining the company he'd known it was going to be newsworthy - but he hadn't anticipated something like this. There's an article on the front page of Techcrunch that's been picked up by several other technology and business news sites, and it's been retweeted and reblogged like crazy. They may not yet be a household name, but in the bubble of Silicon Valley, they might as well be.

Overjoyed, Jared opens the article, excited to see what words of praise Techcrunch has to offer, when something strange catches his eye. It hadn't been visible in the smaller thumbnail version of the image, but the main article is headlined with a banner image of the five of them on stage, with Richard and Jared locked in a tight embrace. _But, oh no, oh no, oh God no..._  there's a heart, clearly glowing, right in the center of the photo. And now Richard is going to know - everybody's going to know, and Jared will have to leave and go back to his condo heartbroken and alone and then...

and then he realizes, _wait a minute_.

_Ka-thunk_

That's not his heart.

_Ka-thunk_

It's Richard's.

There are  _two_ hearts glowing in the photograph - so close together it almost looked like one. And suddenly, the world is brighter. Life is funny like that, he supposes - sometimes your whole world can change in a heartbeat.


End file.
